There’s already a word for it: “obstructionism.” However, seeing as that doesn’t even seem to scrape the surface of describing current GOP activities, others have chosen to use the slogan “Country Last” to describe the actions of current Republican legislators, pundits, and hacks.
The country has spoken, and by a wide margin has called for change, and for action to be taken immediately to address our sinking economy, our threatened environment, and our standing in the world. Newly-inaugurated President Obama, obviously intending to make good on his campaign assurances and commitments, has been very busy. In his first week of office, he has drafted a stimulus package for the economy, asked for the release of the remainder of the TARP funding, signed an executive order calling for the closing of Gitmo in one year (as well as calling for an in-depth analysis of how to deal with each prisoner), released a new environmental policy, issued plans for the overhaul of our Federal Regulatory System, met with military leadership and called for a withdrawal from Iraq and a redeployment to Afghanistan, approved missile strikes on al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, lifted the contentious abortion “gag rule,” released a new set of lobbying ethics rules, and even today announced his intentions to allow states to take steps to further decrease auto emissions.
Even Senator John McCain seemed to get swept up (albeit temporarily) in the winds of change: “I would remind all my colleagues, we had an election and we also had a remarkable and historic time yesterday as this nation has come together in a way that it has not in some time. I like all good politicians pay attention to the president’s approval ratings. They are very high. But more importantly, I think the message that the American people are sending us right now is that they want us to work together and get to work.”
Too bad more of his Republican colleagues don’t seem to agree. Here’s just the short list of recent actions taken to undermine the new administration:
1) Normally we don’t hear much about the cabinet post hearings. Sure, maybe one candidate has some controversial views that end up disqualifying him or her…but the majority of the positions are approved without so much as a mention in the media. Not this time. Republican Senators, particularly John Cornyn of Texas, appear determined to delay as many of the positions as possible.
-In regards to Clinton and the Secretary of State post, John McCain (apparently tired of delay) stated, “I think we ought to let Senator Clinton, who is obviously qualified and obviously will serve, get to work immediately. And so I would ask unanimous consent at the completion of the remarks that any of my colleagues might have, that we initiate the vote at 4:30 and proceed by voice vote to the confirmation of Senator Hillary Clinton to be the next secretary of state of the United States of America.” Nope. Cornyn shot down the voice vote and it would be another day until the matter was settled.
-Eric Holder and the Attorney General position? Delayed for a week….Cornyn’s worried, not that Holder isn’t qualified, but that he might prosecute individuals who used waterboarding in their interrogations (or even the people who ordered the waterboarding in the first place).
-Tim Geithner for Treasury Secretary…Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor…Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator…all delayed.
Well, that’s ok…who needs leadership in the areas of labor, the economy, international affairs, justice, and the environment right now? Wait a minute…WE DO.
2) Many pundits and politicans have been openly hoping for Obama’s initiatives to fail for no more reason than politics and GOP electability. Quite recently, Rush Limbaugh stated that he hoped the stimulus plan didn’t work because it would hurt Republican election chances: “Obama’s plan would buy votes for the Democrat Party, in the same way FDR’s New Deal established majority power for 50 years of Democrat rule, and it would also simultaneously seriously damage any hope of future tax cuts. It would allow a majority of American voters to guarantee no taxes for themselves going forward. It would burden the private sector and put the public sector in permanent and firm control of the economy. Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing “eternal” power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy.” That’s right…Rush is fine with more businesses failing, more people losing their jobs, and homeowners continuing to default on their mortgages…if it helps get Republicans elected.
-Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell went on record as saying that the stimulus plan “could create a major electoral advantage for Democrats at taxpayer expense…Creating 600,000 new jobs might help cement Virginia in the Democrat column, making it harder for Republicans to retake the White House.”
-Karl Rove has opined that the closing of Gitmo will also fail: “One year from now, Gitmo won’t be closed. If it is, there will be an uproar in the U.S. about where to put these people.”
-Boehner, McCain, and other Republican leaders are currently attempting to trash the stimulus package…despite the fact that it contains numerous concessions TO THEM:
-House Minority Leader John A. Boehner: “Right now, given the concerns that we have over the size of this package and all of the spending in this package, we don’t think it’s going to work. And so if it’s the plan that I see today, put me down in the no column.”
-Senator John McCain: “We need to make tax cuts permanent, and we need to make a commitment that there’ll be no new taxes. We need to cut payroll taxes. We need to cut business taxes.” So according to these two…the plan has too much spending (even though it is acknowledged by many that the spending programs will have more impact than the tax cuts)…and even though $300 billion of the $800 billion plan goes to tax cuts for individuals and businesses, these cuts just aren’t big enough, or permanent enough, or “business-y” enough…perhaps they have forgotten about the GIGANTIC national debt which must still, at some point, be paid down….
3) Meanwhile the RNC has decided that while exploring its new leadership candidates, what is called for is a seemingly endless debate on abortion rights, homosexual marriage, and gun ownership…even though the views of the candidates (all extreme rightists) are quite nearly identical…and predictable…and even though these issues have little to do with the current crises facing the U.S. and the world today.
While some GOP members seem to be grasping the concept of “what the American electorate wants and expects“…there are clearly many within the ranks of the party and its supporters who are not yet able to see how they are being asked to change by the CLEAR MAJORITY OF AMERICANS. So…as a favor to them, a quick primer:
1) Stop engaging in senseless partisan fights: If a candidate is qualified…approve them. If a law bears the promise of helping the American people…vote for it. We will no longer tolerate you standing in the way of something simply because it originated from “the other team.”
2) Stop the demagoguery. We are less interested in your moralizing, finger-pointing, and speechmaking than you realize.
3) Quit trying to press our buttons. Abortion…gay marriage…guns…religion…you bring these up to get our attention, but you have done this for too long and the American people are starting to see these “hot button” topics as overly divisive…and as distractions from issues you’d rather not discuss. Soon, you will either have driven people’s support away from you on these issues, or they will simply become apathetic because of the repetition.
4) Quit trying to use the “fear card:” Much like the issues in #3 above, you have overplayed this particular hand…and we know what you are up to. If a Gitmo prisoner has to be released because we’ve been violating his rights for the last 10 years…stop telling us he’s going to bomb our local shopping mall. Criminals, even murderers, have the charges against them dismissed every day, because someone was irresponsible in handling evidence or in observing their legal rights. That’s part of the system. If we have to release a bunch of potentially dangerous individuals because Due Process was ignored, you need look no further than the people who ignored the laws of our Constitution and Justice System if you want to place blame.
There…start with that. And if you can’t learn these things, if you can’t become more productive, less divisive, more cooperative, more hopeful, more diverse, and appeal more to people’s reason than their ignorance…I predict you are in for some unpleasant surprises two years from now.